Gregg Wallace, 45, left school at 15 and worked as a warehouseman at New Covent Garden Market in London before setting up his own fruit and veg business. On the back of its success he launched his media career on BBC Radio 4's Veg Talk and joined Masterchef in 2005; Celebrity Masterchef starts on BBC One on July 21. Earlier this year he opened his first restaurant, Wallace & Co, near where he grew up in south London. He lives in London during the week and in Whitstable, Kent, with his fiancée, Heidi, children Tom, 16, and Libby, 13, and two dogs at weekends.

Masterchef I squeeze everything in my life around filming Masterchef. My mate JT [co-presenter John Torode] and I are very close. My flat is three minutes' walk from his restaurant, Smiths of Smithfield, and once every couple of months he'll come and join me after lunch and we'll get absolutely hammered. John thinks of himself as this tough, hairy-chested Aussie, but I've seen him close to tears when people leave the show.

Neatness As soon as my clothes come in from the laundry I hang them up on the left hand side of the wardrobe and take clothes only from the right. I get money from Masterchef every series to buy clothes, but Heidi says I can't buy new stuff without chucking out the old, so we agreed a number. I'm allowed 13 pairs of trousers, 38 shirts and 18 jackets. If I get stressed Heidi says, 'Don't worry, just look at your shirts and see how neatly they're hanging.'

Heidi I met Heidi on Twitter 15 months ago and we're so happy. She was one of my followers (my Twitter name is Puddingface) and sent me a flirty message. I replied, then we started calling and finally decided to meet up. We're getting married next year. Before we met I was drinking too much and had massive cholesterol. When she moved in with me last July she said, 'I really like you, do you mind living?' Now I'm eating healthier and I'm in the gym nearly every day.

New best friends I'd never had pets but with Heidi came two dogs, a whippet and a greyhound, and it's a real love affair now. They follow me around, even when I go to have a shower. Heidi bought me this little whippet statue (pictured) for Valentine's Day.

Puddingface I've got a real passion for puddings. I see dessert as pure indulgence but they're the last bit of the meal and they're the most fun. Michel Roux Jr once told a chef that if he whisked up a bit of Chantilly for me, I'd eat it with anything.

Hidden treasure When my grandfather died, my grandma gave me this ring (pictured). He was stationed in the Falkland Islands when he was in the Navy and he made friends with an American farmer there called Gregg. One day they were out riding and my grandfather saw something shining in the mud, picked it up, and it was this ring. Gregg was amazed because he had lost it 15 years earlier, but he told my grandfather to keep it as a token of their friendship. My mum heard the story and loved the name.

Steamy reads We shared a house with my other grandparents when I was little and I can pinpoint my love of history to the weekends when I was six and I'd climb into bed with my grandad, who lived upstairs. We'd talk about wars and battles. I read these history books (pictured) in the sauna at the gym, so they get a bit bashed up. But I like them looking distressed.

Running wild After my parents split up when I was 14, I began to run wild; I felt rudderless. We were all living in a flat in Peckham and when they both moved out I stayed there on my own. I had no one to feed me; I lived on kebabs, fish and chips and fried egg sandwiches. I don't blame my parents; having kids yourself you realise they don't come with a set of instructions.

Gregg the veg My first job paying grown-up wages was as a warehouseman at New Covent Garden Market. I thought it didn't look that difficult: it seemed you only needed to make friends with chefs, which is true. My next job was as a salesman. When I'd had enough of that I borrowed £15,000 from friends and set up my own veg firm in October 1989, when I was 25. We eventually had a turnover of £7.5 million. I had to put the business into receivership in 2002 because it became too hard and I couldn't hold it together any more. I lost the business, got divorced and lost my house all in one 18-month period. It was as if the whole world had fallen down.

Secrett business When my accountant asked me what I was going to do next, I said, 'I want to start growing stuff'; I thought the trend was for local and seasonal produce. He knew I didn't have any money so took out his chequebook and gave me £10,000. Now Secretts Direct is a brilliant business, and our customer list is like the Who's Who of London dining - River Café, Dorchester, Savoy, the whole lot. I haven't worked there since I joined Masterchef about four years ago and it pains me to say that the company has made more money since then. My business partner, Vernon, said that with the amount of money I went through taking chefs out for dinner it would be cheaper for the company to send me on permanent holiday.

Team player I started playing rugby at school, and when my boy started playing I took my coaching qualifications (pictured). It's my dream that when he gets into an adult team we can play together.

Spoils of victory I see backgammon as very similar to Masterchef: you've got the same board and pieces each time, but you never get the same game twice. I was playing with a friend and we started betting 50p a game, which soon went up to £1 a point and he ended up owing me about £2,000. I'd always loved this bronze (pictured), which belonged to him, so I said I'd play him double or quits for that statue, and I won.

Turning in During the week in London I'm out for dinner every night, but back home in Kent Heidi and I like to be in bed by 8.30pm. We've got a massive brass bed and a DVD player beside it which I like to watch before I go to sleep. Heidi says I'm asleep within minutes so she always has to reach over and turn it off.